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Social Welfare Act (Unpassed)
Urgency: Significant Author: Osea 767 © Sponsors: Free South Califas ©, Slazliyka ©, Polvia (RG), Phing Phong (RG), Sahrani DR ©, Venaleria (RG), Potenco (RG) Description: Recognizing that the existence of preventable poverty can lead to social strife and has the potential to create a perpetually economically disenfranchised class of citizens. The state, therefore, must act to ensure preventable poverty is dealt with, or least minimised. Declaring, with the above in mind, that the following items shall be passed into law. Section One: Guaranteed Social Income We recognise that a person needs more that to have enough for their basic needs if they are to have options in developing themselves. We also recognise that common systems of financial social benefits often promote social discrimination against those who use them. Therefore, our state will employ a different model that gives each citizen the means to their own improvement. *All adult citizens will be guaranteed a minimum income. This income will be amount to a fixed minimal fraction of the nation's total GDP. This will not only make the system self-correcting in terms of free-rider issues, but will give all citizens a stake in our economic development. *The value of this faction as a financial sum will be recalculated at the end of each financial quarter. The government will be obliged to make sure copies of its calculations and the data used in them are available to the general public. *There will be two types of guaranteed social income. The first will be the standard guaranteed income, which will be for all adult citizens, excepting those suitable for the second type. This will be set to a fixed fraction of the nation's total annual production that will provide a supplement to a citizens income. The second, the enhanced guaranteed social income, will be available for groups such as the elderly and will be set on a fixed faction that is sufficient guarantee them enough to live on. Section Two: Social Housing We declare that housing is a need shared by all. Recognising that market systems can be insufficient in meeting this need and that the negative consequences of failures to ensure sufficient housing can have a harmful effect on society, our state will therefore put the following into law. *The state will be obliged to ensure there is sufficient housing available for all citizens. To enable it to fulfil this obligation, it will create a Social Housing Bureau. This Bureau will be charged with recording data on housing needs and the provision of sufficient social housing to meet national needs. It will also be tasked with ensuring all social housing meets a minimal housing quality standard. It will be empowered to devolve powers and responsibilities to local councils where appropriate. *The state will be obliged to create an independent housing advice organisation. This organisation will be tasked with informing those in need of housing of all available housing in their local area, show them vacancies of interest and help them move and settle in, if they should choose to take a vacancy. *All tenants of social housing will have the right to form democratic tenant associations, organised as best suites the needs of their members. These will be empowered to put forward the needs and concerns of their members to local authorities, as well as enable their members to assist each other and work together in matters of mutual interest *If tenants of a neighbourhood are all united under a democratic tenant organisation, that organisation can seek devolution of powers to it in order to grant its members a greater ability to democratically manage the affairs of their neighbourhood and enable reductions in the size of central bureaucracy. Section Three: Training and Employment We believe that it to be essential that mechanisms exist to enable citizens to gain essential skills and knowledge for occupations. In addition to this, there should be systems to enable both employers and job applicants to network and better search for what they need. *The state will be obliged to ensure training programs are available and are properly financed. Applicants for programs will be able to seek financing, if needed, either by state provided zero-interest loans or by schemes set up in agreement with employers, as might be the case with apprenticeship schemes. *The state will set up a Labour Assistance Bureau. This Bureau will in turn create local Labour Assistance Boards. These will receive labour requests from employees and employment requests from citizens. They will be empowered to help citizens find information about, and gain contact with, employers in the area who have vacancies suited to their employment demands. The same will be done for employers who are after labour for their needs.